Character Battle #2 - Bender Vs. Murray

I thought it was about time to put up another character battle. Last time it was between Mr. Cheese and Winslow and the winner was...

Reginald Van Winslow

"Jolly Good Sir!"

... by a landslide, 38 votes to 4.

Let's hope this battle is a little closer than the last. This week it's between Murray (of Monkey Island) and Bender Bending Rodríguez (of Futurama).

Murray

Colour: WhiteGood or Evil: EvilNumber of Limbs: NoneNumber of Bones: Twenty-Two; Mandible and the 21 bones that make up the Cranium (thankyou avistew, for the correction)

Murray, the infamous, evil, demonic, cynical talking skull with an extremely dark sense of humour. First seen in Curse of Monkey Island, Murray was a crew member of LeChuck's skeletal horde but was originally only seen as a skull after being separated from his body after his longboat was shot at with a cannon by none other than Guybrush Threepwood. Murray has been featured in the past 3 Monkey Island games - Curse of Monkey Island, Escape From Monkey Island, and Tales of Monkey Island and has earned himself a spot in the hearts of Monkey Island fans everywhere (thus blackening their hearts). Murray is known for having overambitious plans that could never be fulfilled due to his lack of physical independence, but we love him for trying and we can't deny that he's got a good bite on him as well as a mind driven by evil and malice!

Achievements:

- Being an official inventory item of Guybrush Threepwood (twice)- Surviving death- Surviving being hit by a cannonball, living inside a chest with a nasty and nippy crab, being swallowed by a giant manatee, being hung from a gate/shrine by children (despite already being dead anyway)- Surviving affiliation with both LeChuck and Guybrush- Travelling much of the Tri-Island Area and the Gulf of Melange despite having no legs.

Quotes and Dialogue(taken from MIwiki):

- "Bwahahahahahahaha!"- "Evil needs no arms!"- "Is it a really evil looking doorstop?" - Guybrush: "How can you see without eyeballs?" Murray: "How can you walk around without a brain? Some things no-one can answer." - Murray: "...and the forces of darkness will applaud me as I STRIDE through the gates of hell carrying your head on a pike!" Guybrush: "Stride?" Murray: "Alright then, ROLL! ROLL through the gates of hell..."

Bender Bending Rodríguez, more commonly known as simply Bender, is the lovable robot criminal from the popular animated TV series Futurama. Bender was built in Tijuana, Mexico in 2998 by Mom's Friendly Robot Company and currently works as a Assistant Manager of Sales at Planet Express alongside colleagues Professor Farnsworth, Fry, Leela, Amy, Hermes, Dr. Zoidberg and Scruffy the Janitor. Bender constantly accompanies Fry and Leela on missions all across the galaxy - some easy, some challenging, and some dangerous. Though constantly committing multiple criminal offenses and horrible acts and pranks, Bender is still well liked by peers and workmates as well as fans of Futurama.

Achievements:

- Once a pharaoh- Winner of 'Iron Cook'- Made a deal with the Robot Devil- Escaped Robot Hell- Survived having a bomb explode inside him- Played alongside famous musician Beck- Won several olympic gold medals (by pretending to be a woman and cheating)

This was a difficult one, but Bender wins it for me because I know more about him than I do about Murray.

Murray is one of those loveable jokes that you include in a story for breaking up pacing and just getting a few belly-laughs for. I think Murray, as crazy as he is, doesn't hold enough character substance to make it further up on my roster of favourite characters.

Bender, on the other hand, is a fairly well defined character, which is quite common because he's obviously in every single episode. With being able to see more of his ups and downs, I've built a more committed relationship to understanding Bender, and therefore, he is more interesting to me. He provides a sense of humour that I can relate back to his previous adventures. Thus, defining him better.